No More Running
by thinkingabouttomorrow
Summary: Aside from the soft padding of her bare feet on the hardwood floor the loft was completely quiet. It's Valentine's Day and Kate has a little surprise for Rick.


A/N: This just popped into my head today and I really wanted to write it down. It's my first ever fanfiction and English isn't my first language, so I'm kind of nervous about it but I hope you enjoy it! All mistakes are mine! Also I wrote this before the new episode aired, so it's kind of an AU after 8x09.

My take on their Valentine's Day this year.

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 **No More Running**

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It was still dark when she woke up. Her cop senses hardly ever letting her sleep in – even on a Sunday. Beside her Rick was still sleeping soundly, his hair tousled after last night's activities. She rolled out of bed and picked up Rick's shirt to throw over against the chill.

Aside from the soft padding of her bare feet on the hardwood floor the loft was completely quiet. No early-morning-walk-of-shames, no last minute studying on the couch, no coffee brewing in the kitchen to get a head start on the day. There was absolutely no sound. Mornings like these were the only time it became evident that there were just two people currently living in the loft – well if she had to be honest with herself there was only Rick but no, no she would change that as quickly as possible. And maybe, once all of this was over, they could add a little more people to the loft. Some noise in the morning wouldn't hurt.

Walking over to the stove she put on some water to make coffee and grabbed a few eggs, milk and flour for the pancakes. Soon the kitchen was filled with a heavenly smell and she knew it wouldn't be long before Rick woke up so she snuck to the coat closet to get the last thing she needed.

Castle woke to the smell of coffee and pancakes. Still half asleep he reached to his right to feel the sheets cold and the pillow next to him lacking her soft, cherry-scented hair. Rubbing a hand across his face he finally peeled his eyes open just in time to watch his wife slowly enter the bedroom with a tray in her hands.

"Morning, babe." Kate came to a stop in front of him and carefully, as to not spill any coffee, leaned down for a kiss. "Morning to you too, beautiful." He grinned looking down at the goods she was holding in her hands. "And happy Valentine's Day! What's all this?"

"Well that's part of my gift for you this year and besides breakfast in bed on a Sunday is always good don't you think?"

"Oh yeah that's true", he laughed. "Come on, hand me the tray so you can get in here as well!"

She crawled into bed to sit next to him and they started to eat the heart-shaped pancakes Kate had made. Of course Rick was fooling around with the whipped cream, but she didn't mind. She had planned on making good use of it later on anyways. After a while of silently enjoying their breakfast together Castle noticed a small box hidden beneath the piles of pancakes.

"Open it." She murmured, excited and afraid of what was to come all at once.

The box was navy blue, barely as wide as a finger and had maybe the length of a pen. His breath caught in his throat. If he had to guess what was inside he would say – _but no that couldn't be it right? She was still sipping her coffee. Or was it decaf?_ His hands were shaking as he slowly lifted the lid.

"A USB drive?!" He asked incredulously. That was by far the last thing he'd expected to see. She didn't meet his eyes as he looked up and there was a nervous smile on her face when she answered him. "I'm done. I can't take the charade anymore. Our public fighting has gotten the boys into thinking you're cheating on me and that's not ok anymore. They're our friends and I hate lying to them and I also hate it when they treat you like that! You haven't done anything wrong! If anyone should be punished that would be me for treating you like that!"

"Hey, no. It's ok, Kate. I've forgiven you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But it's not just that. I'm sick of Locksat, too. It's been months and we still haven't gotten anywhere. And quite frankly, Vikram isn't really a great help. Everything he's found so far has lead nowhere and I feel like going on like that is futile." With every word she spoke more and more of her confidence returned.

"So that's what the USB drive is about. It holds all the information we've got – even if it was a dead end. I want you to have it. Maybe you want to look at it and find something we didn't see and we can finally close the case. Or you don't and we put this thing in a safe and never look at it again. Either way I don't want to do this without you anymore even if that means never finding Locksat. I just want our happily-ever-after, Rick!"

Her eyes were wide and her breathing laboured. Anxiously, she looked at him, waiting for an answer or anything really to tell her what was going on in his mind.

"Wow. This is quite a lot to take in. Are you sure you want to do this, Kate?"

"Yes. This whole thing has taken so much from us and it's time to put an end to it. And whether that will be by getting closure or by leaving it unfinished, I don't care anymore. At this point I just want to be home for good. And then maybe some day soon this could actually be a pregnancy test in your hand." She trailed off.

"How did you..?" But Kate just smirked.

"All right. Well I still have to think about what I'm going to do. But for now let's just put it in the bedside table. Thank you, Kate! I know how much this meant to you and I'm so grateful that you chose to include me! I love you so much!"

"I love you, too! Happy Valentine's Day, Rick!"

"Happy Valentine's Day! Now how about we start working on that pregnancy test you mentioned earlier?"

He grinned and leaned over. She met him half way in a slow, passionate kiss. Her eyes closed and she breathed in his scent. And just like that everything felt normal again.

They knew he still had to decide what he was going to do about the flash drive but for now that didn't matter. She was back home and they could finally start the family they'd been talking about for almost a year. There was no more running separately, only together.

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Thank you so much for reading! Constructive criticism is always welcome!


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